“She’s meddling in things that don’t concern her,” Miss Dickce said. “Not just our family history, though what she expected to find in the family papers, I haven’t the faintest idea,” she sniffed. “The Ducotes have been boringly respectable for generations.”

“Sadly, yes.” Miss An’gel laughed. “Dull as ditch water, as the saying goes.” Her expression hardened. “All that aside, Vera is headed for trouble, the kind of trouble she may never survive.”

SEVEN

Miss Dickce burst into laughter. “Oh, Charlie, your face just now. You’d think An’gel was talking about strangling Vera the way you looked.”

Diesel tilted his head up at her and warbled.

She laughed again. “See, Diesel thinks it’s funny, too.”

Miss An’gel frowned at her sister. “I’m sure Charlie thought nothing of the sort. You’re entirely too frivolous sometimes.” She turned her attention to me, as I was trying valiantly not to laugh.

“There’s no need for something so extreme to bring Vera to heel,” Miss An’gel said, her tone repressive. “The moment I heard about Vera’s attempt to stick her nose into our family papers, I called our lawyer, Q. C. Pendergrast. He knew exactly what to do to put a halt to such nonsense. He simply got on the phone to Mr. Cassity and explained the situation. That was all it took.”

Miss Dickce rolled her eyes at her sibling. “Do you truly think Morty has that kind of control over his wife? You go into the library and pull the dictionary off the shelf. Look under loose cannon, and you’ll find Vera’s picture. That woman is crazy as a betsy bug.”

“Very amusing, sister.” Miss An’gel cast a venomous glance at Miss Dickce. “I know Vera as well as you do. She has never quite understood the meaning of restraint, but Mr. Cassity holds the purse strings in the family. Without the money to back up her oversized mouth, she can’t accomplish much.”

There had been no opportunity for me to contribute to the conversation, even had I wanted to. Diesel, however, continued to chirp and purr as the sisters engaged in their verbal sparring match. He appeared to be enjoying the exchange. I found it pretty entertaining myself, but I was afraid it might escalate into something unpleasant. I had heard stories of some of their epic arguments and didn’t really want to be witness to one of them.

Miss An’gel must have sensed my concern. “Pay no mind to us, Charlie. This is what comes of two old maids knocking about in a big house like this for decades on end.” She cut a sideways glance at her sister.

Miss Dickce took the cue and nodded. “Oh, yes, Sister and I have a fine old time pointing out each other’s foibles and follies. But we didn’t invite you here to put on a show.” She giggled, looking suddenly twenty years younger.

I wasn’t quite sure what to say, but Diesel saved me from having to reply right away. His continued vocalizing made the Misses Ducote laugh, and that gave me a few seconds more. “I’ve seen siblings, um, have differing opinions before. My son and daughter have the occasional disagreement.”